Microsoft has inadvertently demonstrated the intrinsic security problem of including a universal backdoor in its software after it accidentally leaked its so-called “golden key”—which allows users to unlock any device that’s supposedly protected by Secure Boot, such as phones and tablets.

One of the first Windows 10 features we learned about was the return of the Start menu, which is sort of funny, since the concept of the Start menu is over two decades old. Microsoft tried to replace it with the Start screen in Windows 8, and you only have to look at the adoption numbers to see how most consumers and businesses felt about it.

Most individuals who are using Windows 7 or Windows 8.1 have received Microsoft’s intrusive “Get Windows 10? advertisement, asking you to “reserve” your free upgrade to this new OS and prep your PC to download it so you can install on day one. Which is all well and good. But should you? And if so, when?

Few users remember to take this important step, which can really save the day if your computer gets hosed. Back in the old days, computers that came with Windows also came with Windows media: floppy disks, then later CDs and eventually a DVD. If you needed to reinstall the OS for any reason, you just used that media.

How To Boot Into Safe Mode On Windows 8 (The Easy Way) Courtesy of How-To Geek One of the most common steps when troubleshooting a PC is to boot into safe mode. For a long time this has been achieved by pressing the F8 key, this all changes with Windows 8 and its Automatic Repair mode. But what if we want Safe Mode? You can still have Safe Mode, however, it is buried deep into the recovery options of Windows 8. While just mashing the F8 key as we all know will boot you into automatic recovery mode, you can still manually access the recovery options by pressing the Shift+F8 key combination. Even more simple, however, is the option to just hold the SHIFT key and click Restart at the login screen, or even within Windows. Booting Into Safe Mode on Windows 8 There are a number of ways to get into Safe Mode, and these ways depend on whether or not you can boot the computer, or whether you can login to the computer. The first one is the simplest. If your PC boots to the Login Screen If you can boot the PC to the login screen, you can hold down the SHIFT key while clicking on Restart to be taken to the troubleshooting option screen where you can enable Safe Mode. Keep reading below for those details. If Your Computer Doesn’t Boot and You Have (or Can Make) a Recovery Flash Drive If you have access to another computer running the same version of Windows, you can create a USB recovery drive and boot the computer from that, which will take you into the recovery screens and give you access to Safe Mode (see the advanced troubleshooting tools section below). If You Can’t Boot to the Login Screen When your PC can’t actually boot to the login screen, you’ll usually be presented with the Recovery screen. If you don’t see this screen, you can try to hold...